– The Boy Without a Spark
Kael had always known he was different. In Emberfall, magic was the lifeblood of every child, the measure of worth and destiny. The other boys and girls could summon flickering flames with a snap of their fingers, command gusts of wind to dance around them, or bend water like ribbons of glass. But Kael? He couldn't even light a candle without it sputtering out in his hand.
"Again, Kael? Honestly, it's pathetic," sneered Rion, a boy from the village who had always been first in every magic test. The other children laughed, tossing sparks back and forth like playful fireflies.
Kael kept his head down, gripping the silver pendant around his neck. It was all he had of his mother, who had died when he was just a toddler. The pendant was cool against his chest, engraved with a symbol he couldn't read — a curling flame that seemed to shift when no one was watching.
"Maybe you should just give up," another child muttered.
Kael clenched his fists, tasting the bitter sting of failure and shame. His father's sigh echoed in the small room they shared.
"You mustn't mind them," his father said quietly, arranging herbs on a wooden table. "Magic isn't everything. Strength comes in many forms."
Kael wanted to believe him, but every day the whisper of his inadequacy grew louder. He watched other children laughing, leaping, and conjuring wonders while he sat alone, feeling invisible.
That evening, Kael wandered to the edge of the village, where the forest swallowed the horizon in shades of indigo. He held his pendant tightly. "Why me?" he whispered into the twilight. "Why can't I—"
A flicker of warmth brushed his fingers. The pendant glowed faintly, almost imperceptibly. Kael froze, heart pounding. Had he imagined it? He looked around; the forest was quiet, the wind still. Nothing moved.
"Perhaps," he murmured, "this is the start of something… else."
He returned home, carrying his shame and a spark of hope he didn't fully understand. Outside, the last rays of sun fell across Emberfall, golden against the mountains, and Kael wondered if, somewhere beyond the village, his true place awaited him.